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▊INTRODUCTION. As the saying goes, “The only sure things are Death and Taxes!” For now, however, I need to roll in three guarantees that no man or woman alive will ever be allowed to ignore, or, when ignored, ignored at their peril. These are:
☀ Guarantee #1: THE SAVING GRACE OF GOD.
☀ Guarantee #2: DEATH.
☀ Guarantee #3: THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT.
No amount of arguing, philosophising or intellectualised resistance against these three guarantees will make any difference or alteration to the decrees of an immutable, Almighty Creator and loving Heavenly Father. So it is written in the Word of God, and so it will be done bearing in mind that even the preponderance of knowledge, intelligence, genius, education and brilliance of all people on earth pooled in unison will be no match against the infinite mind and providences of God with His assumed I.Q. (Intelligence Quotient) of Infinity to the power of Infinity, or INFINITYinfinity .
From the Book of Genesis to the Book of Revelation the Bible reveals and admonishes that God is a merciful God who wants everyone, irrespective of current religious persuasion and political affiliation, race, skin-tone, culture, gender, age or socio-economic status ('caste'), to be saved, and not a single person to go lost. The Scriptural evidences for that view (i.e., that the Law of Moses, the Gospel and Christianity are not for Jews and Christians alone) are abundant almost to the point of doctrinal embarrassment for the supporters of ‘predestination theology’. Examples:
☀ P.S. Notice the emphasis on the choice available for the ‘respondent’ between ‘willing & obedient’ and ‘refuse & rebel’. It’s a free country.
☀ P.S. This, God’s declaration of His absolute sovereignty over the souls and destinies of people, apparently at odds with the free will of man, does not, however, point to ‘predestination theology’ as some may want us to believe, but to the Absolute & Infinite Wisdom and Discretion of God as the perfect ‘benevolent autocrat’. He has created us and has the right to have or decline mercy at will; the clay does not argue with the Potter (in whom resides not an inch of malice) because the Potter knows what He is doing.
☀ P.S. Notice the reprimand of the unwilling and disobedient rebels, thus affirming the principle of ‘free will’. Why would God want to hold people responsible (as free moral agents) for their ways and chastise or punish them if their behaviour, actions and futures were mechanically pre-ordained by ‘predestination’?
☀ P.S. Notice the emphasis on free choice, and not compulsion at the point of a gun like in Nazism, Communism, Fascism etc.
☀ P.S. Again, an invitation affirming free choice.
☀ P.S. Again, affirming the free choice to take up the ‘Water of Life’ freely.
☀ P.S. Affirming the doctrine that the grace of God, that brings salvation, has appeared to all men; not just to Jews and Christians. Christianity (the Gospel* of Jesus Christ)is not a religion for Christians only, but for every nation of the world irrespective of culture, skin-tone, race, tribe, clan, caste, gender, age, socio-economic status, political affiliation or current religious persuasion, provided the respondent makes his/her peace with God (YHWH, Yahweh) and accepts Jesus Christ as LORD & Saviour.
☀ P.S. Jesus berating the population of Jerusalem for resisting and rejecting His message, thus affirming the right and power of the people as free moral agents to resist and reject the grace of God’s invitation to salvation.
Bear in mind:
☀ All the patriarchs, statesmen, judges, prophets, scribes, heroes, heroines and famous (or notorious) characters of the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) have died.
☀ All the rulers, followers of Christ, scribes, evangelists, disciples, apostles, prophets, teachers, missionaries, believers, heroes, heroines and martyrs of the New Testament have died. Even Lazarus, whom Jesus Chrisrt raised from the dead, died for a second time (and according to tradition, the second time in Marseille, France).
☀ All the kings, queens, reformers, faith heroes, martyrs, the great writers, statesmen, generals, soldiers, discoverers, engineers, artists, scientists, academicians and inventors of the centuries have died.
☀ All of today’s geniuses, scientists, academics, inventors, soldiers, warmongers, statesmen, politicians, thieves, embezzlers, money launderers, robbers, burglars, hijackers, murderers, rapists, big-time criminals and all VIP’s (along with all the ordinary people), the rich and the poor, atheist, agnostic, skeptic and believer will eventually die, unless raptured (lifted live from the earth by Christ) at the End Time.
☀ Guarantee #1: THE SAVING GRACE OF GOD.
☀ Guarantee #2: DEATH.
☀ Guarantee #3: THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT.
No amount of arguing, philosophising or intellectualised resistance against these three guarantees will make any difference or alteration to the decrees of an immutable, Almighty Creator and loving Heavenly Father. So it is written in the Word of God, and so it will be done bearing in mind that even the preponderance of knowledge, intelligence, genius, education and brilliance of all people on earth pooled in unison will be no match against the infinite mind and providences of God with His assumed I.Q. (Intelligence Quotient) of Infinity to the power of Infinity, or INFINITYinfinity .
▊GUARANTEE #1: THE SAVING GRACE OF GOD. The Bible teaches that the saving grace of God has appeared to all men. No one is exempt … when the Bible says ALL it means all. There are no exceptions. The Saving Grace of God could also sometimes be described as ‘Prevenient Grace’, defined as follows:
“Arminian Free Will Baptist theologian Robert E. Picirilli says that the word "prevenient" in prevenient grace comes from an archaic English usage meaning "anticipating", "coming before", or “preceding” .[4] Picirilli says that a good synonym for "prevenient grace" is "enabling grace", as it enables sinful mankind to believe.[5]
"The United Methodist Book of Discipline (2004) defines prevenient grace as "the divine love that surrounds all humanity and precedes any and all of our conscious impulses. This grace prompts our first wish to please God, our first glimmer of understanding concerning God's will, and our 'first slight transient conviction' of having sinned against God. God's grace also awakens in us an earnest longing for deliverance from sin and death and moves us toward repentance and faith."[6]
“Arminian Free Will Baptist theologian Robert E. Picirilli says that the word "prevenient" in prevenient grace comes from an archaic English usage meaning "anticipating", "coming before", or “preceding” .[4] Picirilli says that a good synonym for "prevenient grace" is "enabling grace", as it enables sinful mankind to believe.[5]
"The United Methodist Book of Discipline (2004) defines prevenient grace as "the divine love that surrounds all humanity and precedes any and all of our conscious impulses. This grace prompts our first wish to please God, our first glimmer of understanding concerning God's will, and our 'first slight transient conviction' of having sinned against God. God's grace also awakens in us an earnest longing for deliverance from sin and death and moves us toward repentance and faith."[6]
[Wikipedia: ‘Prevenient Grace’].
From the Book of Genesis to the Book of Revelation the Bible reveals and admonishes that God is a merciful God who wants everyone, irrespective of current religious persuasion and political affiliation, race, skin-tone, culture, gender, age or socio-economic status ('caste'), to be saved, and not a single person to go lost. The Scriptural evidences for that view (i.e., that the Law of Moses, the Gospel and Christianity are not for Jews and Christians alone) are abundant almost to the point of doctrinal embarrassment for the supporters of ‘predestination theology’. Examples:
“Come now, and let us reason together, says Jehovah; though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of Jehovah has spoken.”
[Isaiah1:18-20MKJV].
☀ P.S. Notice the emphasis on the choice available for the ‘respondent’ between ‘willing & obedient’ and ‘refuse & rebel’. It’s a free country.
“And He said, I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of Jehovah before you. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.”
[Exodus33:19MKJV].
“O Jehovah, the Hope of Israel, all who forsake You shall be ashamed. Those who depart from Me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken Jehovah, the Fountain of living waters.”
[Jeremiah17:13MKJV].
☀ P.S. Notice the reprimand of the unwilling and disobedient rebels, thus affirming the principle of ‘free will’. Why would God want to hold people responsible (as free moral agents) for their ways and chastise or punish them if their behaviour, actions and futures were mechanically pre-ordained by ‘predestination’?
“Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke on you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest to your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”
[Matthew11:28-30MKJV].
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes on Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.”
[John3:16MKJV].
☀ P.S. Again, an invitation affirming free choice.
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify these things to you over the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright and Morning Star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let the one hearing say, Come! And let the one who is thirsty come. And he willing, let him take of the Water of Life freely.”
[Revelation22:16-17MKJV].
☀ P.S. Again, affirming the free choice to take up the ‘Water of Life’ freely.
“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that having denied ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live discreetly, righteously and godly, in this present world, looking for the blessed hope, and the appearance of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”
[Titus2:11-13MKJV].
☀ P.S. Affirming the doctrine that the grace of God, that brings salvation, has appeared to all men; not just to Jews and Christians. Christianity (the Gospel* of Jesus Christ)is not a religion for Christians only, but for every nation of the world irrespective of culture, skin-tone, race, tribe, clan, caste, gender, age, socio-economic status, political affiliation or current religious persuasion, provided the respondent makes his/her peace with God (YHWH, Yahweh) and accepts Jesus Christ as LORD & Saviour.
*'Gospel': Good News of Salvation for all who will believe.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to her, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is left to you desolate.”
[Matthew23:37-38MKJV].
☀ P.S. Jesus berating the population of Jerusalem for resisting and rejecting His message, thus affirming the right and power of the people as free moral agents to resist and reject the grace of God’s invitation to salvation.
Do the math: If people had no free choice as free moral agents created in the image of God (who has Absolute & Infinite Free Will!) and their moral choices were absolutely prescribed like movie scripts with their behaviour mechanically predetermined by an evil, diabolical, unfeeling Creator incapable of compassion, love and kindness; why would He have been outraged at the sins and crimes of people to hold them responsible as follows:
☀ Cain for killing Abel?
☀ The men of Sodom & Gomorrah for indecently assaulting the angel guests in Lot’s house?
☀ The wicked and ungodly of the Bible for their unbelief, wickedness and sin?
☀ Goliath for shouting abuse at the armies of Israel and their God?
☀ David for his taking of another man’s wife after having contrived to have her husband murdered in war?
☀ Simei for insulting and swearing at David?
☀ Nabal for being inhospitable and discourteous to David and his men?
☀ Haman for his murderous plan to destroy the Jewish nation?
☀ Jezebel for her sins, pagan unbelief and animosity toward the Prophet Elijah?
☀ The citizens of Jerusalem for rejecting the Gospel?
☀ Judas Iscarioth for betraying Jesus Christ?
☀ The Pharisees of Jesus’ day for their conniving manner, unbelief and religious hypocrisy?
☀ King Herod for his blasphemy?
☀ All sinners in general for their sins (bearing in mind that all the wicked and ungodly are sinners, but not all sinners are necessarily ungodly and wicked)?
☀ Cain for killing Abel?
☀ The men of Sodom & Gomorrah for indecently assaulting the angel guests in Lot’s house?
☀ The wicked and ungodly of the Bible for their unbelief, wickedness and sin?
☀ Goliath for shouting abuse at the armies of Israel and their God?
☀ David for his taking of another man’s wife after having contrived to have her husband murdered in war?
☀ Simei for insulting and swearing at David?
☀ Nabal for being inhospitable and discourteous to David and his men?
☀ Haman for his murderous plan to destroy the Jewish nation?
☀ Jezebel for her sins, pagan unbelief and animosity toward the Prophet Elijah?
☀ The citizens of Jerusalem for rejecting the Gospel?
☀ Judas Iscarioth for betraying Jesus Christ?
☀ The Pharisees of Jesus’ day for their conniving manner, unbelief and religious hypocrisy?
☀ King Herod for his blasphemy?
☀ All sinners in general for their sins (bearing in mind that all the wicked and ungodly are sinners, but not all sinners are necessarily ungodly and wicked)?
P.S. The Free Will of God is Absolute & Infinite (Sovereign), whereas the free will of men is limited, curtailed, subjugated to, dependent on and derived from the Free Will of God, with His permission. It would make no sense to say that 'God created man in His image' and then deny him the facility of free will. Man's free will, however, is not omnipotence.
▊GUARANTEE #2: DEATH. Unless we are raptured prior to or during the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, all people on earth are destined to die physically; the mortality rate for humanity is a steady 100% for every generation (climate change or not) and will remain so until Jesus Christ returns, no matter how much the rich will care to pay to have their bodies deep-freezed for 50 years until a cure for death is found.
So, whether we perish because of climate change or from starvation (through deluded, over-ambitious 'climate change' fanatics outlawing cattle farming) is really immaterial; God's Agenda for planet earth and its peoples will play out exactly as the Bible describes, so we need to get over it and get prepared.
Now, the atheist can, for instance, easily prove the Christian and the Bible in error simply by never dying; by beating death (i.e., by refusing to die) the atheist will have proved his/her point. So, why can’t he/she? The Bible clearly teaches:
“ … And as it is appointed to men once to die, but after this the judgment.”
[Hebrews9:27MKJV].
“The days of our years are threescore years and ten [70 YRS]; and if by strength they are fourscore years [80 YRS], yet their pride is labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”
[Psalm90:10MKJV].
Bear in mind:
☀ All the patriarchs, statesmen, judges, prophets, scribes, heroes, heroines and famous (or notorious) characters of the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) have died.
☀ All the rulers, followers of Christ, scribes, evangelists, disciples, apostles, prophets, teachers, missionaries, believers, heroes, heroines and martyrs of the New Testament have died. Even Lazarus, whom Jesus Chrisrt raised from the dead, died for a second time (and according to tradition, the second time in Marseille, France).
☀ All the kings, queens, reformers, faith heroes, martyrs, the great writers, statesmen, generals, soldiers, discoverers, engineers, artists, scientists, academicians and inventors of the centuries have died.
☀ All of today’s geniuses, scientists, academics, inventors, soldiers, warmongers, statesmen, politicians, thieves, embezzlers, money launderers, robbers, burglars, hijackers, murderers, rapists, big-time criminals and all VIP’s (along with all the ordinary people), the rich and the poor, atheist, agnostic, skeptic and believer will eventually die, unless raptured (lifted live from the earth by Christ) at the End Time.
▊GUARANTEE #3: THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT. Many people, i.e., especially those who still believe the Darwinism driven scientists, are under the erroneous impression that mankind is going to continue living for 'millions of years' on planet earth, 'still faithfully evolving' and having conquered nature, global warming and climate change through the wonders of science and technological innovation; touring the Universe in nuclear powered spaceships and visiting friends living in climate-controlled plastic domes on other planets. Some are even having their corpses frozen for posterity, just in case someone would be creative and lucky enough to one day come up with a 'vaccine' against death and dying.
This scenario is in total contrast to what the Bible foretells. For instance, citizens of planet earth ought to rather begin to brace themselves for historic, life-changing events still to come which will have nothing to with today's so-called 'climate change', but rather with catastrophic, precursor events on earth ('Seven Vial Judgments' etc.) that wll lead up to God's Day of Wrath that will culminate in the Greath White Throne Judgment of God.
“The earth is breaking, breaking! The earth is crashing, crashing! The earth is tottering, tottering! Like a drunkard the earth is staggering, staggering! And it rocks to and fro like a tree-hut! And its sins heavy on it; and it shall fall and not rise again. And it shall be in that day, Jehovah shall punish the host of the high place on high, and on the kings of the earth on the earth. And they shall be gathered, as prisoners are gathered in a dungeon. And they shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days they shall be judged.
Then the moon shall blush, and the sun shall be ashamed, when Jehovah of Hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, in Jerusalem, and gloriously before His elders.”
[Isaiah24:19-23MKJV].
“And the heaven departed like a scroll when it is rolled together. And every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains. And they said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him sitting on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of His wrath has come, and who will be able to stand?” [Revelation6:14-17MKJV].
“And I saw a great white throne, and Him sitting on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And a place was not found for them. And I saw the dead, the small and the great, stand before God. And books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”
[Revelation20:11-12MKJV].
“And Jehovah shall be King over all the earth; in that day there shall be one Jehovah, and His name shall be one … Then those fearing Jehovah spoke together, each man to his neighbor. And Jehovah listened and heard. And a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who feared Jehovah, and for those esteeming His name.
[Zechariah14:9; Malachi3:16MKJV].
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